The Death Wobble: FCA Sued Over Alleged Jeep Wrangler JK Steering Issues

A Jeep Wrangler owner has accused Fiat Chrysler Automobiles of ignoring an alleged safety issue with the vehicle’s steering system; one that leads to the notorious “death wobble.”

The term is one Jeep fans are already familiar with and basically entails sudden, violent vibrations from front-end steering components, usually taking place on the highway. On Wednesday, a lawsuit filed on behalf of New Jersey resident Clair Reynolds claimed FCA delivered a “defectively designed and/or manufactured front axle and damping system” allowing for the dreaded wobble to occur after “encountering road variations” at speed.

While the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has never issued a recall related to the issue, it’s familiar with the phenomenon and has been pressured by safety advocates to investigate since before 2012. But previous studies into the wobble found it relatively difficult to replicate, and no serious injuries have stemmed from it. Reynolds’ legal council says that doesn’t cut it.

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  • Jalop1991 going back to truth in advertising, they should just call it the Honda Recall.
  • Plaincraig A way to tell drivers to move over for emergency vehicles. Extra points if it tells were it is coming from and which way you should move to get out of the way.
  • EBFlex Ridiculous. “Insatiable demand for these golf carts yet the government needs to waste tax money to support them. What a boondoggle
  • EBFlex Very effective headlights. Some tech is fine. Seatbelts, laminated glass, etc. But all this crap like traction control, back up cameras, etc are ridiculous. Tech that masks someone’s poor driving skills is tech that should NOT be mandated.
  • Daniel There are several issues with autonomous cars. First, with the race the get there first, the coding isn't very complete. When the NTSB showed the coding and how that one car hit the lady crossing the road in the storm, the level of computation was very simple and too low. Basically, I do not trust the companies to develop a good set of programs. Secondly, the human mind is so very much more powerful and observant than what the computers are actually looking at, Lastly, the lawsuits will put the companies out of business. Once an autonomous car hits and kills someone, it will be the company's fault--they programmed it.